Dallas Is Looking for Design That Can Tackle Loneliness

Built in the heart of downtown Dallas in the 1970s, Thanks-Giving Square stood in antithesis to the city’s then-reputation as the “City of Hate” — a nickname given to Dallas in the wake of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. The public plaza, designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Philip Johnson and featuring a concrete interfaith chapel shaped like a spiral conch shell, was envisioned as a place for finding common ground among strangers. “The idea was to create a sanctuary in the center of the city where anyone is welcomed, no...